Sources: FBI conducting civil-rights probe in Lowell cell death

LOWELL -- The FBI is investigating whether federal civil-rights violations were committed by Lowell police officers the night a woman died in police custody last year, sources told The Sun.

The FBI's probe began in recent weeks and the FBI has requested documents from the city pertaining to Alyssa Brame's death in a Lowell cell block in January 2013, including the internal Police Department report on the incident, a source said.

The Police Department's three-member Board of Inquiry that reviewed the incident found that those police officials responsible for Brame at the station went 66 minutes without checking on her -- more than double the required length -- as her condition worsened. They also failed to seek medical attention in a timely manner for Brame, 31.

Brame, who had been arrested earlier in the evening after allegedly offering sex to an undercover officer, died of alcohol poisoning.

Special Agent Greg Comcowich, an FBI spokesman, said the FBI does not confirm or deny whether it is conducting investigations.

Police Superintendent William Taylor and City Manager Kevin Murphy declined to comment.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan's investigation last year into Brame's death determined that criminal charges were not warranted against the officers.

The city's Board of Inquiry released its report in February and found that Lt. Thomas Siopes, Lt. Mike Kilmartin, Sgt. James Fay, Sgt. Frank Nobrega and Sgt. Michael Giuffrida violated department policies in their handling of Brame.

Advertisement

The actions of then-lead detention attendant Kevin Lombard, a civilian, and Officer William Florence were also criticized in the report.

Attorney Gary Nolan is one of the attorneys defending Siopes, who was recommended for termination for his actions the night Brame died.

Nolan said Taylor informed those involved with Siopes' disciplinary hearing that began last week that the FBI was reviewing the cell-block death. He said neither he, nor Siopes, nor two other officers he defended before the Board of Inquiry have been contacted by the FBI.

"While we have received no formal confirmation of a federal investigation, we certainly welcome any independent review of this case," Nolan said in a statement.

Nolan also said: "As the first week of testimony showed, the Board of Inquiry report is flawed and full of omissions ... There is a lot more to this case, and we look forward to telling the whole story."

Alice Swiridowsky-Muckle, Brame's mother, said she was thrilled to hear the FBI was investigating the circumstances surrounding her daughter's death.

"I think it is the best thing to happen to this point," Swiridowsky-Muckle said. "It is almost like Christmas to me.

"It helps knowing my daughter's death is not going to get swept under the carpet and some officers are not going to sleep easy tonight knowing it is not going to get swept under the carpet."

Swiridowsky-Muckle said she remains hopeful some good can come out of her daughter's death and that the FBI investigation can help make that possible.

"I don't want to see another person's child lose their life because the Lowell Police Department is not doing their job adequately and they have men that just don't care," Swiridowsky-Muckle said.

Attorney Howard Friedman of Boston, Swiridowsky-Muckle's lawyer, declined to comment on whether his client plans to pursue legal action against the city.

He also welcomed the FBI investigation, pointing to at least two previous deaths of people in Lowell police custody who were intoxicated but did not receive medical care for medical issues they faced.

"It may take an FBI investigation to bring about some change," Friedman said.

At Siopes' hearing, Taylor was questioned about Walter Paine's 2007 death in police custody because of cardiac arrest due to acute alcohol intoxication. Friedman said there was an intoxicated man in Lowell police custody who died in the 1980s due to an acute subdural hematoma.

Taylor recommended that the city manager terminate Siopes and Fay, and issue lengthy suspensions to Kilmartin, Nobrega and Giuffrida.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.